Getting OEM FDDs/HDDs that work on 51**s is quite a challenge.

The "hard drive on a card" is unusually rare, then? (I assume it's an actual mechanical, spinning drive inside?)

Jorpho wrote:

The "hard drive on a card" is unusually rare, then? (I assume it's an actual mechanical, spinning drive inside?)

The hardcards were reasonably common upgrades back then, especially since early PCs didn't have standardized drive bays for 5.25" and 3.5".
But I'm not sure how many of them were actually sold compared to regular HDDs.

bjt wrote:

Your PVM should be ideal though, with a suitable digital->analogue converter. Are you in the UK? I'd be happy to send you my Extron 202xi as I've no use for it now. It has DB9 input and BNC output.

Very kind of you. I live in the US, so I could probably find one on eBay for less than the cost of shipping from the UK.

My PVM is model 1354Q. It has only one input for sync. I notice that the 202xi has two sync outputs, plus three for RBG. Do you think this means that the 202xi cannot work with my PVM?

I've been looking for a Super Emotia so that I can output VGA to my PVM for some nice scanlines on DOS games, but the price is prohibitive.

No problem, they seem easy to get hold of on US eBay.
The H-Sync output on the Extron outputs combined sync if nothing's connected to the V sync output, so no issues there.
The 202xi will downscan a VGA input too.

Had another poke around the 5160 found a 1986 build date

But also this 1994 date stamped inside the front cover... hmm

As a package, this system is really nice, it seems a shame to split it. However, it's far too noisy for me as-is. Both the PSU fan and HDD generate a racket. So I'm thinking:

Clean the whole thing up
XT-IDE with CF card, sell the hardcard
Open the PSU and lube the fan
Replace the 720k floppy with a black HxC Gotek, spray the 5.25 bezel black
NEC V20

No sound card, extra memory, VGA etc for this machine, it's way too slow and I want to play with CGA composite.

Congratulations bjt!

XT-IDE is an excellent choice, i glued a high density floppy BIOS to the XT-IDE BIOS and it works great. Very useful, specially if you want to use a Gotek.

Good to know. Which version of the XTIDE did you build? Was it relatively straightforward? I'm looking at the simplest CF-only version.

What's that game? It looks amazing on your CGA.

filipetolhuizen wrote:

What's that game? It looks amazing on your CGA.

Looks like it's Jet: http://www.mobygames.com/game/jet

bjt wrote:

Good to know. Which version of the XTIDE did you build? Was it relatively straightforward? I'm looking at the simplest CF-only version.

https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/product/lo-tech-isa … mpactflash-pcb/

I tell you, i was really worried about assembling this board because i'm not very experienced with a soldering iron, but in the end i did a pretty good job. The secret is to use good solder flux. I got EDSYN flux that comes in a syringe. 16 pounds, which makes it kind of expensive but it is top quality solder flux. Makes your soldering job look like done by a professional. It was really easy.

If you want the XT-IDE BIOS with the high density floppy support let me know, i'll send you the file.

Thanks, yeah that's the PCB I've ordered. Where did you order your components, which flash chip did you use?

EDIT: Oh and unfortunately the FDC in my XT (and indeed the HxC Gotek right now) doesn't support HD datarates, so no 1.2/1.44MB for me.

Couple more pics from last night:

Better PIC of the hardcard

Inside the PSU, all looks OK. Surprisingly little dust in this machine

PSU fan, need to decide the best lubricant for the bearing - I have light oil, silicone, PTFE/Teflon or lithium grease?

bjt wrote:

Thanks, yeah that's the PCB I've ordered. Where did you order your components, which flash chip did you use?

EDIT: Oh and unfortunately the FDC in my XT (and indeed the HxC Gotek right now) doesn't support HD datarates, so no 1.2/1.44MB for me.

Ordered the parts from Farnell, and had to use an SST29 based chip harvested from a Super Socket 7 motherboard BIOS as the newer SST39 flash based ones weren't available at the time at Farnell. The pinout is the same so it works just as well.

You can always use a 16bit multi I/O to get HD datarates.

Well that was quick, got all the parts apart from the PCB now. Ended up getting half from Farnell and the rest from RS.

Ended up with multiples for some of the parts (including the flash ROM and socket) so if anyone wants a partial parts kit for the price of postage, let me know.

Have fun assembling the board!

Model F all cleaned up

Scali wrote:

Nope, the Commodore/Philips do brown properly.

Indeed they do. I also have a Mitsubishi multisync monitor that does brown correctly when using TTL.

OTOH, I have a Sony PVM-1442QM with TTL in, and it gives you "SkiFree Dog Pee" instead of brown.

If it's not an IBM CGA monitor, I think you just have to suck it and see.

Had a productive retro evening yesterday 😎

Hell yeah! This demo is awesome

Assembed the XT-IDE card. Looking forward to testing it out.

Well done! No plans for High Density BIOS floppy support? There's still plenty of space in that EEPROM.

Yep could do, I'd need to get another floppy controller. Nice to have the option though!
BTW what value did you use for the electrolytic at C6? The bill of materials specifies 10uF but the PCB says 22uF.
I went with the BOM.

I went with BOM spec as well. I even contacted James about the Tantalum capacitor, which James told me it isn't really required. So i decided not to install one and it still works perfectly.

I can glue the HD Floppy BIOS and send you the file, i just need to know for which CPU you need: Intel 8088 or NEC V20. The XT-IDE BIOS for a NEC V20 (XT-IDE+) provides faster operation since it uses 80186 assembly instructions the NEC V20 supports if i'm not mistaken.

My opinion is that HD Floppy support is extremely useful, it just makes life so much easier, specially because it allows you to use a Gotek.